Fly-tipper left with £1,000 bill for dumping household waste

A householder was left with a bill of close to £1,000 for dumping bags of household waste just half a mile from her home in her village.

Rushcliffe Borough Council prosecuted Alison Munsey, 51, for irresponsibly throwing away the purple bin bags of rubbish and a piece of garden furniture on Gypsum Way in Gotham.

Nottingham Magistrates’ Court heard on November 9 that Munsey claimed she intended to dispose of the waste at a Loughborough Household Waste Recycling Centre.

However she claimed when informed her vehicle would need to be registered to use the facility, she dumped the waste under half a mile from her property.

The vehicle she used to dump the items was spotted at the scene by a member of the public who alerted the Council within 20 minutes of the incident.

Deputy Leader Cllr Debbie Mason said: “This was an exceptionally selfish act by a resident dumping rubbish in her own community where her neighbours would be among those having to suffer the unsightly scene of her plastic bags and furniture dumped on a busy road.

“We have a zero tolerance policy on fly-tippers and we will always consider prosecution when evidence is found on those who commit these crimes.

“Fly-tipping anywhere in Rushcliffe is completely unacceptable and we will not hesitate to prosecute anyone who blights our communities in this fashion.”

Munsey pleaded guilty to an offence under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 for dumping the items on October 31 last year, was fined £480, ordered to pay £450 towards prosecution costs and given a victim’s surcharge of £48, leaving a bill of £978.